THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER i AU be gis a Be APRIL, 1979 The New Democratic Party Government of 1972-1975 made significant strides to obtain a greater return on the resources of the province of British Columbia. The pro- grams implemented by the NDP under | Dave Barrett are currently adding Ay hundreds of millions of dollars to the peo- i ple of B.C., through the Petroleum Corpo- ___ ration of British Columbia, Canadian Cel- lulose, Plateau Mills, Kootenay Forest Products, and through increased royalties on minerals, natural gas, coal, and many other innovative programs such as the * po Hudson and the Princess Margue- cal te. 8 _ Not only did the NDP enter these enter- prises because of threatened sales to for- F eign owners but also to prevent closures of forest and tourist operations and the sub- sequent loss of jobs. Afton copper smelter, at Kamloops, was ing secondary industry to that interior community. Negotiations were in progress with Bri- tish Petroleum for an oil refinery and with Japanese interests for a steel mill in B.C. These negotiations and the copper smel- ter were steps in the NDP’s commitment to encourage secondary industry in this pro- vince in order to provide jobs that are cur- rently being exported with our resources. No new initiatives have been made by the present Social Credit government to bring secondary industry to B.C. In fact, under Social Credit we have even seen the number of mines in B.C. reduced from 24 to 21, with more closures slated for 1979. You benefit from your resources B.C. PETROLEUM CORPORATION The B.C. Petroleum Corporation was i OE a eee ee ee ee ee ee 7 1 q B.C. SO te To fully understand the hypocrisy of Bill Bennett and the Socred Government's claim that “B.C. is not for sale,” one has only to look at the record. in 1974 the federal government set up the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA). Its object was to ensure 50 to 60% Canadian ownership in Canadian indus- try. By law, before existing businesses can _ be sold to foreign interests, they have to be approved by FIRA and by the provincial _ government. But at the same time Bill Bennett was trying to win votes by telling you that B.C. was not for sale, he was nigtekied oe representation to the federal governmen to try and kill any interference with the - Socreds’ plans to sell to foreign interests. t document that was finally made on January 18, 1979 by NDP Oppo- Leader, Dave Barrett. The docu- started under the NDP and is now provid-' LD DOWN THE RIVER One proof of this is a secret federal formed in 1973 by the NDP government. This corporation simply sells natural gas to Westcoast Transmission Company. 1973/74 21.2 Million profit 1974/75 92.5 Million profit 1975/76 135.8 Million profit 1976/77 160.7 Million profit 1977/78 181.1 Million profit TOTAL $591.3 MILLION PROFIT The Socreds on a recorded vote; voted against this legislation which has brought you 591 million dollars. OCEAN FALLS In 1972 the Old Socreds were ready to let the mill and town die, with 1,000 citi- zens and 300 jobs to be dismissed. The NDP stepped in and saved these jobs and the town. Revenues 1974 $49,956 profit 1975 $304,381 loss 1976 $1.0 million profit 1977 $1.0 million loss Unfortunately, as revealed on the same night as the Premier called the election, the Socreds are now disposing of this. CANADIAN CELLULOSE Canadian Cellulose with a present replacement value of $500 million was pur- chased by the NDP governmentin1973 by . simply guaranteeing mortgages or loans totalling $70 million at 5% percent. Under foreign ownership the former Columbia Cellulose lost $95 million between. 1966-1972. Profit from your Crown Corporation 1974 $45.4 Million Profit 1975 $27.4 Million Profit 1976 $26.1 Million Profit 1977 $13.7 Million Profit itself struggles very hard against foreign takeovers. Another proof is the record itself. According to data published by FIRA, 74 existing enterprises in B.C. have been taken over by foreign interests. 37 com- panies were taken over in 1978 alone. : Here are some examples of companies taken over and of their assets which have now fallen into foreign hands with the approval of Bill Bennett. CROW’S NEST INDUSTRIES — Taken over by Shell Oil (Netherlands) 260,000 acres of coal and timberland. 43,000 acres of coal “licences”. 430,000 acres of oil and gas rights. 1 million acres of timber cutting rights. A sawmill producing 135 million board feet per year. SALMO FOREST PRODUCTS — Taken over by Louisiana Pacific (USA) 21,000 acres of forest land. Amill producing 25 million board feet of lumber annually. EMKAY CANADA NATURAL RESOURCES — Taken over by Elco Mining (Germany) $112.6 Million Profit $112.6 Million returned to you from your resources PANCO POULTRY Prior to the NDP purchase of Panco, its out of province owners were going to close it down and put 350 people out of work. The NDP bought it to protect those jobs and the B.C. poultry industry. Your return: 1975/76 $ 797,469 1976/77 $ 807,567 1977/78 $ 177,167 $1,782,203 profit Unfortunately the Socreds have sold Panco Poultry. PLATEAU MILLS Another industry saved by the NDP to protect jobs and the livelihood of a sector of our province. Your return: 1974 $ 87,376 loss 1975 $ 67,749 profit 1976 $1,936,500 profit 1977 $4,493,000 profit $6,409,873 profit COAL ROYALTIES In 1972 the average royalty on a ton of coal in British Columbia was 14 cents to the people of B.C. The New Democratic Party raised that average to $1.44 by 1975 with another increase of $1.00 a ton due in April of 1976. That increase has not to this day been implemented, despite the will- ingness of coal companies to pay more for coal. Alberta receives up to $9 a ton for some grades of coal and has no difficulty in finding markets for this resource. 42 coal licences involving a deposit of 240 million tons of coking coal. BRAMEDA RESOURCES — Taken over by British Petroleum (England) 25 coal licences covering 27,000 acres of a rich coal deposit. The record speaks for itself: the only reason Bill Bennett has “free” shares to sell is that the NDP government refused to sell our resources to foreigners. Bill Bennett might claim that this elec- tion will be fought over who ought to con- . . trol the resources of B.C. by saying that -the battle is between the State and individ- uals. The truth is that the battle is between the people of British Columbia and the for- eign financial interests. In the three years that Bill Bennett and the Socreds have been in power the battle has been won by the foreign interests. The New Democratic Party believes that the resources are the property of all the people of British Columbia. Its record shows that B.C. has not been for sale; it promises that B.C. will not be for sale under an NDP government.